With Smartphones, It's Android And Apple With Everyone Else Picking Up The Crumbs

Is it any wonder that BlackBerry maker RIM is possibly looking for a buyer, and Microsoft is trying to produce their own smartphone? Google’s Android and Apple now control nearly 87 percent of the smartphone market according to a new report from comScore, with everyone else fighting for survival.

From May through August, Android and Apple saw their combined smartphone market share increase from 82.8 to 86.9 percent. At the same time, RIM, Microsoft, and Symbian each lost ground, losing a total of 3.9 percentage points of the market.

OEM Market Share – comScore, August 2012

In total, there are now 116.5 million people in the U.S. that own a smartphone. This is an increase of 6 percent versus May.

Android-based phones remain the most popular, accounting for 52.6 percent of all smartphones purchased. Apple’s share stands at 34.3 percent, which is a point change of 2.4 percent.

Smartphone Platform Market Share – comScore, August 2012

Of the 234 million Americans that own a cell phone of some type, Samsung leads with 25.7 percent of the market. LG (18.2 percent) and Apple (17.1 percent) follow.

However, it is worth noting that among the top three, only Apple has seen a rise in support. Since May, Cupertino’s share has climbed 2.4 percentage points. Samsung’s share, by contrast, remained unchanged, while LG was off 0.9 percentage points.

The results of the comScore survey were based on interviews of 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers.